The First Day Without Fionna
by MaskedScissorDoll
Summary: The Ice King writes some pretty dark fan fiction. Marceline does not approve.


Fionna was gone before sunrise on Saturday, and Marshall could only assume it was a relief. After all, very few people she knew were still alive. She was old, and she'd lived a very adventurous life full of fun and friendship. She hadn't suffered long, her decline had only really taken a couple of weeks. And yet there was suffering, and now it had ended. He was grateful for death.

Human weakness. Feeble, foolish human weakness had taken the humanity out of Marshall Lee's life. Gone an hour and he already couldn't bear it. She was old and he was very young, and yet she was still so very young and he was so very weary of life. He held her hand, felt the creases in it. He hated his skin; it could not mimic hers. He hated that his skin was as cold as hers, and he had to stay in it after she was gone. But not for very much longer.  
Years ago, when she first admitted she loved him, he thought long and hard about their options. The age gap was a problem. After a few years of consideration, he knew that she would be his last love. He wanted her to stay with him forever, but he could not make her immortal. Vampires were born, not made. He'd begged Gumball to find a way, but Gumball shrugged the suggestion away. He would not play Glob. Marshall Lee was cynical about Gumball's true intentions, believing that Gumball didn't want him to keep Fionna with him. But it didn't matter why, Gumball would not help him. Marshall Lee did not give up. He read every book he could find on immortality and death, to no avail.  
And before very long, Fionna became old, and now she was dead. He stayed with her until her last breath, and afterward he sat beside her for a very long time. But the sun would be up soon, and Marshall Lee would not miss the sunrise on the first day without Fionna.  
He knew if he opened the door to their bedroom that lead to the hall, most of the people who remembered Fionna as more than a legendary hero would be waiting for the news. Cake's family. Gumball's children. The Flame Prince. He didn't care whether they knew she was gone or not, he never cared about them. The list of people he cared about was very very short and now it was even shorter.  
So he chose to leave through the window. He kissed Fionna's head and whispered, "Soon." He never told her what he planned, but now if she could hear him now she would guess. He did not cry, he was determined.  
He opened the window and kicked out, taking his bat monster form for the last time. He would do it on a hilltop in a meadow, where they had spent many nights together.  
He arrived there in plenty of time. He reflected on the clarity of the night. There was no doubt, it was going to be a perfect sunny day, the kind Fionna would have loved to spend with Cake. He remembered her face, sunny and warm, not long after they were married. She was daylight, but now she was gone and the sun would rise for his darkness.  
Lost in thought, he did not see her until she put her hand on his shoulder. The Ice Queen. "I thought I'd find you here," she said.  
Fionna was old, and Simmone Petrikov looked the way she did the day Fionna was born. Unchanging. Marshall had thought of stealing her crown to preserve Fionna, but he knew the crown was cursed. And if he had stolen Simmone's crown, Simmone would have perished. The Ice Queen was Marshall's best friend, who he loved. It was out of the question.  
Marshall shrugged. "I can hang out on this hill top if I want, nobody can stop me," he said.  
The Ice Queen sighed. "Do you think she'd want you to die like this?" she asked.  
"How do you think Fionna would want me to die?" Marshall asked, "Do you think she'd rather I hug the Flame Prince? Or maybe she'd want me to look for a monster I can't beat? Doesn't matter how, I'm dying today."  
The Ice Queen did not doubt Marshall's determination. "I couldn't understand why you did it, marrying her. I get that you were lonely. We're all lonely. But you knew this would happen," the Ice Queen paused, and considered, "She knew this would happen. I think she thought you could handle being alone again one day."

Marshall Lee was surprised at The Ice Queen's lucidity. Maybe the seriousness of the situation had knocked a little of Simmone free. He was too shocked to come up with a rebuttal.

"Fionna thought the best of you," the Ice Queen said, "She didn't believe you were evil, and she was right. She believed you loved her, and she was right. She believed Globb could forgive you."  
"I guess we're going to find out," Marshall said. He was tired. He sat down, and the Ice Queen sat beside him.  
"So, how does vampire death work?" the Ice Queen asked.  
Marshall blew his hair out of his face. "I don't know. How does human death work?"  
"I meant what's going to happen when the sun comes up? What will happen to your body?"  
Marshall laughed. "There will be no body. I'll sizzle for a while. My skin will melt a little bit. And then I'll catch fire, and it'll spread really fast. And I'll burn until there's nothing left but ash." He spoke with a serious, matter of fact tone. "I'm not scared. I've lived a really long time, I'm ready to go. But I'm glad you're here."

"What is this junk you're writing?" Marceline demanded behind him.  
The Ice King turned around and beamed. "Marceline! You're just in time to read my new Fionna and Cake fan fiction!" He showed it to her, and she began to read. He noted the change in her face as she read it, the darkening of her expression.  
"Nothing like this would ever happen," she said.  
"Oh, yeah?" The Ice King said, "And how would it be different?"  
"Well, first of all, Marshall Lee would never marry Fionna. Fionna's way too cool to ever want to get married, and anyway Marshall Lee is evil," Marceline said. "And secondly, this is depressing melodramatic bunk. Fionna wouldn't get old, and Marshall Lee wouldn't have to watch her die."  
"But isn't that what happens to vampires?" the Ice King asked.  
"No, because vampire's don't fall in love with mortals, and if they do," Marceline clutched the Ice King's notebook, "They're made not born. So, there is a way. Not that anybody would want to do it."

"So, do you think I should change it so that Fionna told Marshall Lee she didn't want to change?"

"No!" Marceline said, perhaps too quickly. "I think you should crumble this up and write about something else." She would not confront her fears today. And there was something else that caught Marceline's attention. There was a new depth to the Ice Queen's character in this story. The Ice King had called the Ice Queen Simmone. Could that mean that there was still some sliver of Simon that the Ice King could only remember of he thought of him from the outside?

"Could you write some more?" Marceline asked.

The Ice King was perplexed. "I didn't think you liked my Fionna and Cake fanfiction."  
"I want to know more about the Ice Queen and her friendship with Marshall Lee," Marceline said, "Could you write some stories that have them hanging out in them?"

"I guess I could try. They might be kind of boring if they're not about Fionna."  
"You could put Fionna in them too." Marceline reasoned, "I just want to see what you think about Simmone Petrikov."


End file.
